Thursday, 18 July 2013

My Perspective On The Second Session Of The 11th National Assembly

It is the first
session of parliament in the recent past which has presided over major policy
changes in the governance of the nation.

The second session of
the Eleventh National Assembly which convened on 21st September 2012, is
expected to adjourn on Friday 19th July 2013.

A parliamentary
session is usually organised in three phases which include the budget phase,
the legislation phase and the committee phase

During the budget
phase held between September and December last year, the 2013 National Budget
was presented and adopted.

In the legislation
phase held between February and March 2013, several bills were presented and
adopted.

And in the current
committee phase which is likely to adjourn tomorrow, 20 parliamentary
committees have reported to the house and questions for oral answer sessions
have also been a daily feature.

By the time it
adjourns, this session of parliament would have overseen a transition period
for policies from the previous ones initiated by the MMD to those proposed and
implemented by the Patriotic Front.

Among the 17 Bills
passed by this session of parliament include five controversial and radical
ones that steered huge debate and reactions from stakeholders.

One of these is the
Re-Denomination of Currency Bill of 2012 which changed the kwacha notes and
re-introduced coins.

Another is the Bank
of Zambia Amendment Bill of 2013 which prompts investors to bring back proceeds
from mineral sales abroad.

For decades, Zambians
had complained that proceeds from mineral sales were being kept abroad and
never benefited the nation.

Another thorny issue
that brought emotions in Parliament was the issue of subsidies.

Despite not having
been tabled in the house, the removal of fuel and maize subsidies was a hotly
contested for issue on the floor of the house.

On most Fridays
during the Vice President's Question Time, the issue of subsidies was being
raised by opposition members of parliament who argued that the move would
worsen hunger in the nation.

This debate later
moved a step further when MMD Solwezi Central Member of Parliament Lucky Mulusa
moved a private members motion to re-instate the subsidies last week.

The motion was
heavily debated and took long to conclude but when the vote was cast, the
ruling party polled 70 votes against the 52 votes for the opposition.

And that is how the
motion on re-introducing subsidies was lost.

Despite this loss by
the opposition, the second session of the Eleventh National Assembly is also
credited for having passed two opposition motions.

Lubansenshi Independent
Member of Parliament Patrick Mucheleka successfully moved a motion to refocus
the Rural Development Policy in October last year.

The policy was to
refocus government's approach towards poverty alleviation and the house
approved it.

Another opposition
motion which was passed by the house was one on accelerating the attainment of
the Millennium Development Goals which was moved by UPND Bweengwa Member of
Parliament Highvie Hamududu last week.

In total, parliament
in the current session received 20 committee reports which include the two
highly contested ones from the Public Accounts Committee.

However, this session
of parliament did not discuss the hugely anticipated Freedom of Information
Bill (FOI) which the Patriotic front government promised to bring back to the
house in June this year.

FOI has since been
renamed as the Access to Information Bill (ATI).

A week ago, Vice
President Dr Guy Scott informed the house that the Bill is expected to be
presented in parliament in its next sitting as it was still undergoing scrutiny
in the committee on legislation.

Another important
feature that was observed in the current sitting of parliament was the increase
in the resignation of opposition lawmakers to join the ruling Patriotic Front.

These resignations
have caused numerous by-elections which have mostly been won by the PF which
has a slim majority in the house.

In the last one year,
Parliament has also seen a new trend where UPND members of parliament have for
the first time in history joined government and crossed from the left side of
the Speaker to the right side which hosts the executive.

This has to some
extent changed the balance of power in the house in favour of PF in as far as
voting is concerned.

As parliament
adjourns tomorrow, eight seats remain vacant following resignations by the
incumbent and nullifications of seats by the courts of law.

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About The Author

Paul Shalala is a Kitwe-based reporter for the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, the country's national broadcaster which runs two TV channels and three radio channels. He was recently elected as Secretary (Northern Region) 2016 - 2018 term for the Zambia Union of Broadcasters and other Information Disseminators. On The Zambian Analyst, he blogs about politics, elections, governance and other issues of national and international interest. He previously worked for MUVI Television, New Vision Newspaper and freelanced for The London Evening Post. He has been trained in various specialised journalism courses in Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. He was awarded the 2016 Mandela Washington Fellowship and studied Public Management at Syracuse University in New York. He has so far reported from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and North America. Paul has a number of local and international media awards to his credit. Paul is also the the founder and Managing Director for PAMOS Media Consultancy (www.pamosmedia.com) a company which is training 100 Zambian journalists in budget tracking and investigative journalism skills funded by the US Government